Xadyu's Recommendation Corner!!

[Arjuna]

Yeah im certain about it, btw arjuna go & watch Haibane renmei that was really fantastic !!

I will then.

 

[Evil3ye]

Do you like Children of the Whale?

 

[Xadyu]

Do you like Children of the Whale?

Never seen it. Is it good?

 

[Evil3ye]

I watched 10 episodes on Netflix, yeah, I liked it. Interesting world built and premise. Watch it.

 

[Xadyu]

I watched 10 episodes on Netflix, yeah, I liked it. Interesting world built and premise. Watch it.

Added to the list. So I might just do so.

 

[Evil3ye]

That's my boy.

 

[Erinyes]

Do you like Children of the Whale?

Watched it, and actually enjoyed it, but ive heard the manga is better. loved a lot the art and Bgm

 

[Xadyu]

It's Sunday and you know what that means! NEW RECOMMENDATIONS!


First off, our first movie since I started a few weeks ago;


COLORFUL (2013)

"I" died and was kicked out of the cycle of reincarnation because of the sin "I" committed. An angel told me that "I" won a lottery and he gave me a chance to remember the sin. My spirit possessed the body of the 14-year-old boy Makoto, who committed suicide and "I" tried to recollect my memory. "I" felt distressed by the terrible circumstances of Makoto and the fact that "I" was borrowing his body. "I" have started to realize that people are hurting each other because the world is too colorful to distinguish the true color of themselves from others.

Colorful is a movie I randomly stumbled upon a few years back, it was the first anime movie I watched with my wife (also her first anime movie ever) and we were both pleasantly surprised. It's a film, based on a novel, that has won several awards and other prizes in Japan. It's a film that can go both ways for most people and most reviews from peers have been pretty divided, for me, it was an anime I got emotional over (and my wife for example, wasn't phased), and that's because the story captured me, it lured me with all of it's twists and turns, it doesn't pull punches and faces you with the harsh reality of life, after-life and the decisions you take in them. While the plot isn't anything new it shows a much more understandable view of the second chances you are given and the acceptance you must have for the decisions you make, no matter the consequences.

Further, the music in the film is top-notch and fits every scene and exposition as it should, with a great ending song that'll give you the (good kind of) chills. The art-style fits as well, even with CG backgrounds that look stunning.

Overall it was a very enjoyable movie, that definitely shattered my expectations upon reading the synopsis. The emotional stuff is spot-on and the characters definitely'll get a reaction out of you, good or bad. Even as a fantasy, the film definitely does a great portrayal of reality, it's harshness and the beauty of life itself, despite all of the harsh elements in it.

Recommendees: @Farfalla, @Aizen, @Erinyes


SHIORI EXPERIENCE (2013)

Shiori was once a guitarist in a light music club in high school, but her first live performance was dashed when her brother ran away from home with a lot of debt to become a musician in Tokyo. A decade later, Shiori is now a high school teacher, leading a boring, uneventful life and paying off the debt...until she runs into the ghost of none other than famous guitarist Jimi Hendrix.

The story of a 27-year-old woman on her way to becoming a music legend begins here.

Fair warning: Manga Editors have been releasing this on and off since 2015 with only 29 chapters till this date. Lately the manga has been getting some steam to some pop-culture/meme pages because of Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain as main characters, so hopefully the English Edited Mangas will take off soon.

And that's exactly the reason why I picked it up all those years ago too, I only read a hand-ful of chapters back then, and binged everything else earlier this week. But I had never forgotten about it, while the synopsis might sound cringy it's actually portrayed really well, Jimi Hendrix isn't a stereotypical version of african-americans or himself, it's a legit tribute to him that portays him as the guy everyone always thought he was or wanted him to be. Besides Jimi's excellent portrayal we get Shiori, the main character, both of those characters develop really well throughout the series and are excellent leads. That's also were the first negative point of the series comes in, besides those two characters (and later on Kurt Cobain's ghost), everyone else is a walking talking manga troped. One after another if not combined. You get used to it and several story-lines might even make you like them, but they are stock characters, nothing else. Which is a shame, we don't see much of a premise like this in manga, not well executed anyway, while the manga keeps progressing in a good manner (even with the walking tropes) it has a slow start.

To keep it short and spoiler-free (since I read more than the English Edited Mangas), it's an excellent premise that definitely caters to the legacy and fans of Jimi Hendrix but it also enjoyable for everyone else, it carries a lot of potential and even after all these years I'd say I'm very interested in it's (hopefully long) future and maybe even more music influences.

Recommendees: @Organizized, @Brandish, @gnut

​

 

[Farfalla]

I actually think I've heard about Colorful. Thx o/ It's indeed the type of thing that calls my attention, I'll take a look at it.

 

[Xadyu]

Yeah heard about Witch Hunter Robin some years ago ( i think i even watched a couple of episodes), and wanted to watch it and somehow totally forgot about it, your set last time reminded me about this anime, its definitely in my must-watch list

I got a few more in mind like that if you like/love it. Not necessarily "witch"-related.

So regarding Haibane
1- What did i expect well, its hard to say, i knew it was dealing about death due to the angel look, and bc of the use of a lot of symbols like crows from the vry beginning (which are regarded as psychopomp animals i think at least in western, but still are seen as god messengers in Japanese mythologies) i knew something was off bc of the gray color wings mention in the title ( neither black nor white so something about neither good, nor evil or something like this) later the tolling bell. therefore i knew there will be likely some tragic things, but actually i thought we will learn more about characters life hen they were alive. didnt know exactly what the show was going to be about, and it ended to be mindblowing at least for me. i loved both the sweet and biter/tragic sides. I liked the way it deals quite crudely with some specific topics but without being graphic, mostly everything is about suggestion. also as i said above the whole thing about self acceptance.

Sounds like it was an excellent show for you, glad you liked it that much. Have you ever watched/read Kino no Tabi or Mushishi? I think you'll like those too based on this.

2- My favorite char would likely be Reki, i liked Hyoko too and the librarian this lady was so so awesome

Reki was quite tragic, I'd say Rakka is my favorite, usually I don't go for the main characters but Rakka is so great and likeable, her progression from start to finished is great too, I could do an analysis of her, but it's been ages since I watched the show, but Reki was great because of how they build Reki to be this great and dependable character, exactly what Rakka thought, only to break down all of Reki's defenses and show us they were exactly the same, not the opposites. Rakka is hands-down my favorite, while Reki is objectively a better written and executed (and complex) character. Rakka's child-like nature and curiosity really helped her being cemented as my favorite character however.

3- hard to say, maybe the 6 which was a kind of turning point with Kuu disappearance, theres also the scene of Reki "birth" that was heartbreaking, the episode when Rakka was rescued and figures out her actual dream. the last epoisode was also a great candidate, nice wrapping slighyly sad but sweet.

Yeah, the show had a bittersweet ending and that was the only way to go, I'm not sure what episode I'd say is best, since I'm not sure where to place certain moments after this long of seeing it, but the finale is definitely up there. Sounds like episode 6 is the one to go for though, that had the build-up leading to Kuu's Day of Flight right? That was amazing, and I'm a sucked for heavy emotional moments, something this show has quite a few off. So the finale (and the lead-up) and episode 6 are definitely my top 3 episodes IIRC.

yeah i think it s a great idea, .
Are anime like gunslinger girls, Noir and such in your further recommendations ? i remember having watched a couple of episodes of them forget everything except both are dealing with young girls exploited for killings.

So, yeah, there is my first (test)-post. I'm not sure about your taste and interests so far, do you have a MAL? That might make it easier for me to include you in the "Recommendees" section of the post.

Gunslinger Girls and Noir are definitely anime I would recommend, mentioning those I have to include shows like Madlax, El Cazador, Canaan, Black Lagoon and Najica. And as it happens, all of those leads are bad-ass gunslinging women.

 

[gnut]

Elfien Lied and Evangelion too....bring the misery

 

[Xadyu]

Elfien Lied and Evangelion too....bring the misery

You just go and read that manga first.

 

[Organizized]

Colorful is great (you probably didn’t recommend it to me because you knew I’d already seen it, right? )

Will give Shiori Experience a gander, you do know to recommend me short stuff (at least Edited Manga-wise).

 

[Erinyes]

I got a few more in mind like that if you like/love it. Not necessarily "witch"-related.

Sounds like it was an excellent show for you, glad you liked it that much. Have you ever watched/read Kino no Tabi or Mushishi? I think you'll like those too based on this.


Reki was quite tragic, I'd say Rakka is my favorite, usually I don't go for the main characters but Rakka is so great and likeable, her progression from start to finished is great too, I could do an analysis of her, but it's been ages since I watched the show, but Reki was great because of how they build Reki to be this great and dependable character, exactly what Rakka thought, only to break down all of Reki's defenses and show us they were exactly the same, not the opposites. Rakka is hands-down my favorite, while Reki is objectively a better written and executed (and complex) character. Rakka's child-like nature and curiosity really helped her being cemented as my favorite character however.


Yeah, the show had a bittersweet ending and that was the only way to go, I'm not sure what episode I'd say is best, since I'm not sure where to place certain moments after this long of seeing it, but the finale is definitely up there. Sounds like episode 6 is the one to go for though, that had the build-up leading to Kuu's Day of Flight right? That was amazing, and I'm a sucked for heavy emotional moments, something this show has quite a few off. So the finale (and the lead-up) and episode 6 are definitely my top 3 episodes IIRC.


So, yeah, there is my first (test)-post. I'm not sure about your taste and interests so far, do you have a MAL? That might make it easier for me to include you in the "Recommendees" section of the post.

Gunslinger Girls and Noir are definitely anime I would recommend, mentioning those I have to include shows like Madlax, El Cazador, Canaan, Black Lagoon and Najica. And as it happens, all of those leads are bad-ass gunslinging women.

yes i enjoyed the show the show a lot , i agree with you about Rakka, but yeah Reki won over me, also her name's true meaning revelation moment was really hurting.

Havent watched Kino no tabi & Mushishi yet but both are on my must-watch list (kino 1st version though)
Thanks for Colorful recommandation ill definitely give it a try.
yeah heres my Mal evrything is not uptodate though : Eri-nyes

Black lagoon yeah need to watch it, i never watched cazador but only know it by its soundtrack (Yuki kajiura, especially inca rose track )


Huge thanks for the recommandations

 

[Kiki]

grats Mr Xadyu

 

[Xadyu]

grats Mr Xadyu

Thanks! Was about damn time I won something.

Can I ask why you didn't want to participate?

 

[Kiki]

No you can't

 

[Xadyu]

No you can't

 

[Kiki]

Mr Xadyu I wish to visit Netherlands someday...

 

[Organizized]

Visit Sweden instead once Tom moves here.